Offensive Information Warfare

In today’s era of smart weapons and compressed decision cycles, therecan be little doubt that the acquisition of information superiority inconventional warfare goes a long way toward achieving final victory.History provides multiple examples of previous uses of “old-fashioned”offensive information warfare. Inthe Revolutionary War,American agents supposedly inserted forged documents into Britishdiplomatic pouches as a way of convincing the British that GeorgeWashington’s army was far larger than it actually was. During WorldWar I, the U.S. Army in France executed an important deceptionoperation called the “Belfort Ruse” before a major attack on St.Mihiel. The Western Allies in World War II accomplished what wasperhaps one of the largest “information warfare” successes in historywhen they fabricated the Calais invasion force in 1944, fooling someGerman leaders (including Hitler) into believing that the invasion ofNorthwest Europe would come at Calais, which is well to the north ofthe actual Allied landing sites in Normandy.

All of these historicalexamples involved the types of tactics that an early 21st centurydefense analyst would place in the category of offensive informationwarfare.

Task 3. Commonly recognized cyber-aggressors include: cyberterrorists, cyberspies, cyberthieves, cyberwarriors, and cyberhacktivists. Make a comparison-contrast analysis of these notions. Try to give their definitions.

Task 4 Watch the following videos and make summaries.

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIIY9AQSqbY&list=FLx9mpsq9kYATCOmRQZuZZ-A

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlB4TE5Q8xw

Task 5. Comment on the following quotations. Time limit – 1 minute:

1) Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation. (Atifete Jahiaga)

2) The control of information is something the elite always does, particularly in a despotic form of government. Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control people. (Tom Clancy)

3) Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. (Mitchell Kapor)

4) Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.(William Pollard)

5) As we have become increasingly dependent on ever more sophisticated technologies, the information and the systems that support it have become the new doubled-edged sword of war: both weapons and targets. (Geoffrey K.Pollock)

Task 6. The group splits up into pairs. In each pair students represent two politicians. “Politicians” think of three arguments for or against each statement and give examples illustrating your position.A coin toss determines who expresses his/her opinion first in each pair. Time limit 20 minutes The other student is given 1 minute to express an opposite opinion.

1) Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.” (Bruce Coville)

2) “Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.” (Samual Johnson)

3) “Information is the mortar that both builds and destroys empires.” (Tobsha Learner).

4) More information is always better than less. When people know the reason things are happening, even if it's bad news, they can adjust their expectations and react accordingly. Keeping people in the dark only serves to stir negative emotions. (Simon Sinek)

5) “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention...” (Herbert A.Simon)

Task 7. Hold University model debates on the following resolutions:

a) “Mass media inject bias into its coverage of political decisions”;

b)“Internet is a powerful tool in Information Warfare”;

c) “Cybersecurity is a priority for governments today”.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 920